11 Museums in Tbilisi You Must Visit
Tbilisi is home to some fascinating museums. The selection is quite diverse too; here you can find historical, cultural, art, folk, musical instruments and literature, to name a few. Entrance fees are low in Tbilisi and the rest of the country when compared to other European cities—some are even free! So, don’t get discouraged with the ticket price, and visit these 11 essential museums in the capital.
1. Museum of Georgia
Museum
2. Soviet Occupation Exhibition Hall
Museum
The Soviet Occupation Exhibition Hall, located inside the Museum of Georgia since 2006, presents the artifacts from 70 years of Soviet power in the country, from 1921 until 1991.
Here, you can see the country’s files on “rebellious” Georgian public figures who were ordered to be exiled or shot. Additionally, you’ll be able to view the documents of Soviet-era political and cultural repressions in the country.
Museum of Georgia, 3, Rustaveli Ave., Tbilisi, Georgia, +995 322 99 80 22
3. Elene Akhvlediani House-Museum
Memorial, Museum
The Elene Akhvlediani House-Museum, established in 1976, presents graphic artworks, costumes, theatrical sketches, book illustrations, personal archives, and photo materials of well-known Georgian artists. Akhvlediani gave her house to the museum, where a unique atmosphere, artworks, and rich traditions are still maintained for the public.
Elene Akhvlediani House-Museum, 12, Leo Kiacheli St., Tbilisi, Georgia, +995 322 99 74 12
4. Open Air Museum of Ethnography
Museum
5. Mose Toidze House-Museum
Museum
6. Art Palace
Cinema, Memorial, Museum
This museum is home to some of the most valuable materials showcasing the history of old and contemporary Georgian theatre, music, cinema, and choreography.
The museum displays the samples of 17th-century paintings, Persian miniatures, works of 20th-century artists, German and French prints, a collection of personal letters, archives of well-known writers and public figures, and manuscripts. There are also theatre costumes, memorial belongings, films, audio-video records, and collections of stage decorative art, to name a few.
Art Palace, 6, Kargareteli str., Tbilisi, Georgia, +995 322 95 35 63
7. Dendrology Museum (Botanical Garden)
Botanical Garden, Museum, Forest
8. State Silk Museum
Library, Museum
Being one of the oldest silk museums in the world, the State Silk Museum displays a versatile and multinational exposition from 63 countries. Unlike other silk museums that mostly showcase silk collections, this one exhibits everything about silk and sericulture.
Also, there’s a unique library in the museum with rare books that date back to the 18th and 19th centuries and are published in different languages, such as English, French, German, Italian, Hungarian, Rumanian, Chinese, Persian, Japanese, and Arabian.
State Silk Museum, 6, Giorgi Tsabadze St., Tbilisi, Georgia, +995 555 37 63 86
9. Niko Pirosmanashvili Museum
Museum
Here, you’ll see some of his personal belongings and several copies of his work. The originals are on display in the Tbilisi Museum of Arts and Mirzaani House-Museum, where he spent the last years of his life.
10. Zakaria Paliashvili House-Museum
Museum
11. Stalin's secret publishing house
Building
Joseph Stalin was a Georgian-born, most influential figure of the 20th century. During his residency in Tbilisi, he established an underground secret publishing house that supplied Eurasia with illegal revolutionary propaganda and played an important part in the 1917 Russian revolution.
What’s unique about this printing house is its location—situated underneath a small residential building. The only way to the printing room goes through a well, 17 meters (55.7 feet) below the ground. From here, there was another tunnel for the exit in case of an emergency.
Stalin’s Secret Publishing House, 7, Kaspi St, Tbilisi, Georgia
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